Navatara Chakra Usage in Vedic Astrology!

The Navatara Chakra forms an important predictive part within the ambit of Vedic Astrology. The word 'Navatara' can be split as 'Nava' meaning Nine and 'Tara' denoting star. In a nutshell, it can be said to be the bifurcation of the 27 Nakshatras into 3 equal parts of 9 stars each. The categorization of the 3 parts are grouped as under:
Janma - First 9 stars beginning from Janma Nakshatra (1 to 9)
Anujanma - Next 9 stars beginning from the 10th Tara from Janma Nakshatra (10 to 18)
Trijanma - Final 9 stars beginning from the 19th Tara from Janma Nakshatra (19 to 27)

The foundation of the whole Navatara Chakra scheme is originated on the basis of the Nakshatra in which Moon is placed in one's birth chart. That particular Nakshatra is termed as the 'Janma Nakshatra'. For instance if one's Moon falls in the Nakshatra of Punarvasu, that happens to be the birth Nakshatra and the 9 stars from Punarvasu upto Swati falls under Janma Group, next 9 stars from Vishakha until Satabisha forms part of Anujanma Group and final 9 stars from Poorva Bhadrapada to Arudra gets classified under Trijanma Group. These groups also come under the tripod of body, mind and soul with the Janma group said to indicate Body Level, Anujanma Group the Mind Level and Trijanma Group Soul Level. Alternatively the Janma group is said to indicate the present, the Anujanma Group the future and the Trijanma Group the past.

The 9 stars in each group have a relevance of it's own having it's own meaning and also ruled by a particular planet viz each of the Navagrahas. Listing below list of the 9 Tara's and it's planet rulership.

1) Janma Tara : Ruled by Sun, Animal - Peacock

2) Sampat Tara : Ruled by Mercury, Animal - Horse

3) Vipat Tara : Ruled by Rahu, Animal - Goat

4) Kshema Tara : Ruled by Jupiter, Animal - Elephant

5) Pratyek Tara : Ruled by Ketu, Animal - Crow

6) Sadhak Tara : Ruled by Moon, Animal - Fox

7) Vadha Tara : Ruled by Saturn, Animal - Lion

8) Mitra Tara : Ruled by Venus, Animal - Eagle

9) Parama Mitra Tara : Ruled by Mars, Animal - Swan

In general, certain Taras are said to be favorable and some unfavorable whereas a couple are of middling variety. The 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th Taras are said to be auspicious whereas the 3rd, 5th and 7th Taras are considered inauspicious. The 1st and 9th Taras are said to be neutral. The order of sequence is the same whether followed from Janma, Anujanma or Trijanma Group. Let's look at the meaning of each of these 9 kind of Taras and what they all indicate.

Janma Tara:
This in essence is the birth Nakshatra and establishes one's individuality. The Nakshatra in which Moon is placed in the horoscope happens to be the most important of all Nakshatras. Each of the Nakshatras has an energy manifested within it and the individual is said to strongly connote the significations of these resources based on the moon star one has attained birth. The Janma Tara however is not always favorable and said to denote fickleness of the mind and cause tensions. The mind always tends to be unsteady during days of Janma Nakshatras and it can be related to the prevailing environment when a child is about to take birth which is associated with a lot of difficulty and stress. The default ruler of Janma Tara happens to be Sun.

Sampat Tara:
This denotes all things related with wealth. It is a very favorable Tara and is said to be auspicious for all money related events. It can be loosely related to the 2nd and 11th house of a horoscope which speaks largely about income and profits. The ruler of Sampat Tara is Mercury.

Vipat Tara:
As the name suggests, this translates to all sorts of dangers. It can be with regard to getting hurt, embroiled into issues and all such kind. Vipat Tara is ruled by Rahu.

Kshema Tara:
The word 'Kshemam' as such endorses about being in good health and a comfortable state of mind. Hence this is about the well being of the individual concerned by possessing the requisite vitality and being in good spirits. Kshema Tara is ruled by Jupiter.

Pratyek Tara : (Also called Pratyahari Tara)
This is a negative Tara and denotes all sorts of obstacles. It is said to cause plenty of confusions onto the mind in addition to being a stumbling block with regard to completion of tasks and activities. The ruler of this Tara is Ketu.

Sadhak Tara : (Also called Sadhana Tara)
This talks about all achievements and benefits which one is entitled to. This Tara is also said to be the one in which God's blessings are said to arise. Hence worshiping and offering prayers with respect to the deities and articles denoted by the 6th Tara from Janma Nakshatra is essential to have the Almighty's support. This Tara is ruled by Moon.

Vadha Tara : (Also called Naidhana Tara)
This is an inauspicious Tara and is of a killing nature. It is strewn with negativity and denotes all sorts of denials, ill-luck and misfortune. The ruler of this Tara is Saturn.

Mitra Tara :
This is supposed to be one of the most auspicious Tara in the Navatara sequence, All prosperous things in life in general are associated with this Tara. This Tara is said to showcase the way and provide good clarity to the mind. The 2nd, 4th and 6th Tara confers specific success in related areas but the 8th Tara is said to be a combination of all the favorable instruments and hence following the energies related to the 8th Nakshatra from one's Janma Nakshatra can be extremely fruitful. Mitra Tara is ruled by Venus.

Parama Mitra Tara : (Also called Adi Mitra Tara)
This is said to be an average Tara. Though the meaning is translated as very friendly, it tends to take colors and can be good or bad according to situation. Too much of anything is not said to be beneficial and that is the reason for this Tara attaining a mild negative presence however if used in the right manner can also end up being very beneficial. It is more in line towards community living and social surroundings. Also one thing to note is that since we are dealing with sets of 9, when a particular Tara is favorable from one end, it happens to be unfavorable from the other end. For instance Sadhak Tara is favorable to Janma Nakshatra but the vice versa doesn't hold true as the Janma Tara will end up being 5th from the Sadhaka Tara. This does not happen for Parama Mitra Tara as from it's placement, the Janma Tara always happens to be the 2nd Tara and hence favorable. Parama Mitra Tara is ruled by Mars.

Important Information to Keep in Mind:
Apart from these Nava Taras, there are also certain other Taras from the Janma Nakshatras which have their own meanings and indications. Sometimes they tend to over rule the status of Navatara scheme and supersede them. A good example of the same is this concept of 'Vedha' Nakshatra not to be confused with 'Vadha' which is said to repel a particular Nakshatra and vice versa. In such a scenario, the Navatara sequence will get pushed to the back end. For eg. Magha and Revathi form Vedha with each other. For Revathi, Magha happens to be the 11th Nakshatra indicating Sampat Tara (1+1=2) but since they repel each other, the concept of it being Sampat Tara and conferring wealth will not work as they are enemies by nature. Also, the 17th Nakshatra from Janma Nakshatra indicates 'Chandrashtama' which is when Moon goes into the 8th rasi from itself and said to denote a troubled mind. Now the 17th star happens to be Mitra Tara and in such a case being Chandrashtama and being in 8th rasi, it may not be all that auspicious. Also for instance the 22nd Nakshatra from Janma Nakshatra denotes 'Vainasika' and indicates destruction. The 22nd when added up 2+2 becomes 4 which correlates to Kshema Tara but with regard to 22nd Tara, it is anything but related to good health and only has negative attributes. Hence it's important to factor these special Taras also into play before analyzing the results of the Navataras. In general, the following Taras from the Janma Nakshatra are said to be relatively auspicious as compared to the rest. These are the 2nd, 6th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 26th and 27th Taras beginning from the Janma Nakshatra.

Analysis of Navatara in Horoscope:
These Navataras can be used effectively in both Dasas and Transits. We shall look at some examples to understand the concept better.

Dasa Illustration:
Illustration 1:
Let's say a native is born with Rohini Nakshatra being the star of the Moon and currently Jupiter Dasa is running for the native which is placed in it's exaltation Nakshatra of Pushya. It may be believed that Jupiter will confer highly auspicious results as it's sitting in peak exaltation but it should not be forgotten that Pushya happens to the 5th Tara from Janma Nakshatra Rohini and will hence be Pratyek Tara which is said to indicate obstacles in work and causing confusions to the mind. It will compound further if the ruler of the star Pushya which is Saturn is placed in a negative house from Lagna and also in a bad axis like 6/8 from the ruler of Pratyek Tara which is Ketu. However there may be cases when the Bukthi Lords are in favorable Taras from the Janma Nakshatra and hence these specific periods can help ease the relief.

Illustration 2:
Let's say a native is born in Rishaba Lagna in the Janma Nakshatra of Vishaka and is presently running the Dasa of Mercury which is let's say placed in Shravana Nakshatra. Now Shravana happens to be Vadha Tara for Vishaka as it's 7th from it. We need to next see how the lord of Shravana Nakshatra that is Moon is placed with respect to the Lagna. Let's say this Moon is placed in the 6th house in sign of Libra which also happens to be in the 7th sign from Kalapurusha Lagna Mesha. We know 6th house denotes fights and issues whereas 7th house denotes partner or spouse. Thus it can be inferred by blending the two that there could be lots of fights and issues with respective partner. Also Vadha Tara ruler is Saturn and the Vada Tara in this case happens to be Moon (ruler of Shravana Nakshatra). If these two are also negatively placed from each other, say for instance Moon is in 6,8,12 from Saturn, the problems will only accentuate further. Hence best remedy is to appease the Tara in question which is Shravana and donate items related to it in order to reduce the maleficence.

Illustration 3:
Let's say a native is born in Janma Nakshatra of Poorva Bhadrapada and a Dasa of a planet is running now which is sitting in Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra. For Poorva Bhadrapada, Uttara Phalguni happens to be the 15th Nakshatra denoting Sadhak Tara (1+5=6). But there is a catch here as these two Nakshatras are vedha and hence repel each other. So in this case the Nava Tara auspiciousness of the 6th Tara Sadhak won't work and hence the way forward is to avoid all the energies pertaining to Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra and donating 'Puliyogara' rice which is a prasad symbolising Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra.

Transit Illustration:
With regards to transits especially, the lords of the respective Navataras play a crucial role. For instance let's say when Rahu is transiting a Nakshatra which is Vipat to Janma Tara or a Ketu is transiting a Nakshatra which is Pratyek to Janma Tara or a Saturn is transiting a Nakshatra which is Vadha to Janma Tara, lots of troubles can be said to be encountered by the native. Let's say for eg. birth Nakshatra is Hastha and say Rahu is over Swati (3rd Tara) it can cause dangers to native. It doesn't matter even if Swati Nakshatra as such is ruled by Rahu. Likewise let's say if Ketu is transiting over Anuradha or Uttara Bhadra or Pushya which is the 5th Tara from Hastha can cause phenomenal mind confusions. On similar vein Saturn over the 7th stars from Janma Nakshatra be it Janma, Anujanma or Trijanma viz Moola, Ashwini or Magha can cause great strife to the native.

Basic Rules and Clues for interpretation of Navatara:
- Check the Nakshatra where planet placed is operating it's Dasa or Transit.
- See which of the 9 Tara's the particular Nakshatra falls into when counted from Janma Nakshatra.
- If it happens to be 2,4,6,8 positive results can be expected, if in 3,5,7 negative results and if in 1,9 results will be neutral.
- Next check the lordship of the particular Nakshatra which sign it is placed with respect to both Lagna and also the default ruler of the Tara.
- If it is in houses 6,8,12, results can be inauspicious and may need additional measures. If in Kendra or Kona it can said to be auspicious and if in other houses can said to be average.

Explanation: Let's say a person is born in Gemini Ascendant with Moon being placed in the star of Swati. Let's say Mars which is placed in Anuradha in the horoscope is running it's Dasa currently. When counted from Swati, Anuradha happens to be the 3rd star and hence under Vipat Tara. Next we need to check the lord of the star of Anuradha which is Saturn and how it is placed with respect to Lagna and also Rahu which is ruler of Vipat Tara. If Saturn is let's say placed in 10th house of Pisces in Kendra, then from Lagna it doesn't become all that negative but however let's say Rahu is placed in Libra, then this Saturn gets associated in 6/8 axis with the rulership lord of Vipat Tara Rahu and hence problems can be accentuated. The major point of check is however to see which of the Tara's the particular Nakshatra falls into as that's how results get directed. Additional checking of the house position of the lord of the star with respect to the Ascendant and the owner of the particular Tara helps in providing additional respite.